ESPN announced on Wednesday that the erstwhile U.S. national team star is joining the network as an analyst through the World Cup. He will contribute to pregame, halftime and postgame coverage, editions of SportsCenter, World Cup Tonight and other shows.

“I am excited to be joining ESPN’s coverage of the 2014 World Cup from Los Angeles, and I look forward to working with the talented ESPN broadcasters to provide unique insights for our amazing US Soccer fans,” Donovan said in a release.

Donovan is the all-time leader in goals and assists for the U.S. national team. He was expected to be on the 2014 World Cup roster before surprisingly being cut by Klinsmann last month.


STADIUM NOT READY


Brazil’s overdue and over-budget World Cup preparations have been plunged into further chaos following news that the Arena das Dunas in Natal may not be ready for its opening match of the tournament.

Mexico is due to face Cameroon on Friday in what is scheduled to be the first match held at the stadium.

While the Brazilian state agency SECOPA (Extraordinary Secretariat for World Cup Related Subjects) has tried to assured people that the stadium is all but finished, the fire department responsible for signing the order of release for use of the site has disagreed.

According to firefighters, there should have been a safety inspection of the site on Tuesday, but they were not authorized to make their visit, meaning that the stadium is yet to be cleared to host matches.

The Arena de Sao Paulo, the stadium scheduled to host the opening game of the tournament between Brazil and Croatia on Thursday, faced similar issues.

Sao Paulo firefighters refused to sign off on the stadium's temporary seating, which led to FIFA recalling a number of sold tickets.

Fans who bought seats in that part of the stadium were forced to exchange them for seats in other areas of the stadium, causing the capacity to fall from around 68,000 to a little over 60,000.


FUTURE WORLD CUPS ON MARS? 


FIFA president Sepp Blatter insists there is no reason why soccer could not one day be played on other planets.

Speaking at the start of the second day of the federation's congress in Sao Paulo, Blatter delivered a speech aimed at highlighting the global reach of the game and its potential to bring about change in the world.

But as he finished addressing the assembled dignitaries and journalists, the 78-year-old speculated that Earth might not be the limit of football's expansion.

"We should wonder if one day our game will be played on other planets. Why not? And then instead of a World Cup we would have an interplanetary competition," he said.

Such comments are unlikely to do Blatter any favors at a time when his status is under renewed pressure from high-ranking UEFA delegates, who on Tuesday called for him to step down.

Blatter, who succeeded Joao Havelange as FIFA president in June 1998, is considering running for a fifth term as head of the organization in 2015.

But both Blatter and FIFA have been criticized for their perceived unwillingness to tackle the scandals that have dogged world football's governing body in recent times, specifically allegations of corruption over World Cup bids and the problems surrounding the preparation work for the 2014 finals in Brazil.

Blatter caused fresh controversy earlier this week when he claimed that the British media's coverage of allegations of impropriety in Qatar's successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup was "racist."

Contributors: Vanessa Rodrigues, Kris Voakes, Seth Vertelney